Warning: Massive DC AU, Gore, Dark, Fast Paced, World Building
All of this is a work of fiction, and all characters aside from my own belong to their respective works. Any and all characters and settings are purely imaginative and don't correlate to real-life events.
Enjoy!
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In the depths of hell, I began to understand my destiny. The plague that existed within this city was my purpose and solemn conviction: to purge it of its wickedness. In the call of the night, I stood overlooking the obstacles in my way.
What had become of me? Had I changed into a monster, a murderer? There were many proper solutions that could've fixed this city, but in truth, they wouldn't bring me any satisfaction. The devil of my ideals remained and whispered a temptation no human mind would've called sane.
There, my maid and her worry-bound mind had tried in every way to pull me from the horrors I would commit, but I was the necessary evil of this city and its lethal hope. While the streets held horrors of gore and the vile disgust of violence, I overlooked my handiwork.
A sick form of justice.
It was sick, twisted, and utterly sweet, but who was I to change? The force that sent me here, to this world, must've thought of this as a punishment, but what I saw was an opportunity for improvement. And yet, the sickening, hollow void in my chest remained. Stuck like a parasite.
While Stella disapproved of my actions, she had my back. I knew the damage my actions caused; the hero was searching the city for me and the villains were expanding their territories, but all of it would end.
I stood in the dark on the roof of an abandoned building, and above me were the moon and its company of stars.
I wore a trench coat, a black leather shirt, pants, and boots. I had no mask, no secret hidden. From that night on, everyone would know my face. That night I made it my mission to kill every villain.
"Are you sure this is a wise decision?" Stella asked, trying to make me see reason since what I was doing was completely illogical.
"A Hail Mary approach isn't for critical thinkers, but in life, risks are a guarantee. I suspect Batman wants to know my identity; having it out in the open is a power play in itself. Regardless, the city would know me as Heretic and not as the passive princess spawned by the Queen of Tomorrow," I smiled and voiced with utter conviction. My resolve was as firm as my stubbornness.
I could hear a sigh and she relented. "If that's what you think, then all I can do is support you from here on out. Though the consequences from this are gonna be quite damning."
I shrugged my shoulders. "It won't matter much since I'm the most powerful woman in the world. Mess with me and I'll cripple your existence to the point of seeking suicide as your only option. After all, my definition of evil can be quite flexible at times."
Stella kept quiet and didn't respond further, as there was nothing left to contribute to the conversation. Plus, the people I was looking for began to walk out of the building.
Perfect.
I jumped from the building in a flash of lightning.
For three days, I pushed my body to its utmost limits. A week would've been sufficient to correct my improper development, but my impatience was a cruel mistress and my focus a jubilant lover.
Divine Ogre Requiem, the utter masterpiece of the Demon Method. But my thoughts lingered on a conversation I'd heard in the past. The two women back at the bank had talked about Adeline's Theory of Time. I'd researched it before but hadn't really put much thought into it.
I guess you could call it inspiration that sparked my interest, and the source was the lightning crackling around me with perfect discipline and order.
Ironic. I thought chaos was my calling.
I followed the trio across the rooftops, making sure to pick up every detail.
Nothing more than troubling gang members, but they were the trail leading to their leader. I could've used my networks and technology, but groundwork made it feel more intimate. I was looking for the new up-and-coming crime boss and leader of the Moonlight gang.
After I'm done with them, I'll switch my focus to the other rats of the city. I wonder how many I can hang by their intestines until the night's over.
There were a total of 100 crimes committed in a single night in Starline City. In a year, it would lead to a ridiculously high number, but it couldn't compare to Gotham's crime reports. At least, that was what the statistics said, but a more in-depth analysis would establish it at higher numbers.
Putting my biases aside, I paid attention to the small building in a wonderful neighborhood. Crime littered every corner: a drug den was near a sex worker shop, and down from that was human trafficking. All of it was hidden behind a cluster of buildings and maze-like streets and alleyways.
So this must be the famous hidden district of Starline City.
If rats roamed anywhere, it would be a place out of human sight. The reason law enforcement didn't shut this place down was probably due to their pockets being lined with green. Money was vital for living and, most importantly, not asking questions about the wicked events.
I wonder how many good cops were killed for snooping around. Just a few days ago, a detective was killed in a pull-over gone wrong, like anyone would believe it.
I pushed aside my internal thought process, peering through the solid building that the gang entered. I scanned rooms, hallways, and other areas to search for the boss.
I stopped when I saw a man in a chair with a woman by his side. The gang members that I followed entered the room. I listened closely to what they had to say. I thanked my enhanced abilities for letting me achieve superhuman surveillance as without it my stalking would've proved a bit difficult.
The man was potentially the leader, but my gut said it was the woman beside him. Her eyes didn't leave the gang members as she studied every aspect of them, while the man, possibly pretending, didn't care to study them at all.
All he had was an intimidating glare, and along with that glare was his voice.
The man took a Cuban cigar between his fingers and cut its two ends with a golden silver cutter. He popped it in his mouth and lit it with a silver gas lighter, igniting it with a flick of the wrist and extinguishing it the same way.
He pulled the cigar from his mouth. His silence demanded attention, as neither of the gang members spoke without the man's permission, which was shortly given with a wave of his hand.
The guy in the middle, I'm gonna call him Bob, stepped forward.
"Sir, there is some trouble near Western and Falls, and I've seen the Batman near those areas."
"The same area that so-called Heretic caused a ruckus in?"
"Yes, I believe that Batman is hunting down any clues for the vigilante, but it'll also means that he might catch onto us."
"Your drug division will be in a tight spot." The man nodded. "If that's the case, then move your operations near the Anderson district. Ask Arnold to get his boys to help you out."
"Will do," Bob nodded as the boss waved them off.
Just before the trio left, they heard their boss again, "remember to take care of any loose ends. Last thing I need is Batman showing up unannounced. If you find any more suspicious activity, report it back to me."
Bob turned to his boss and nodded. The three left the room quietly, and my focus remained on the pair inside.
The man leaned back, his cigar taken from him by the woman standing beside him. She sat on his desk and puffed the cigar.
"If Batman's here, then it's only a matter of time before he and Heretic have a confrontation. Buying us a little time to expand our operation," she said, thinking about her next move before putting out the cigar in the glass ashtray beside her.
She tossed the cigar back to him, and he caught it with an uneasy expression.
"I need you to keep a close eye on Heretic and report her movements directly to me. And Jason, keep up the good work," she said with a smile before leaving the office.
Jason was stiff as a board before releasing a heavy sigh. He leaned back against his chair and started moving on to other activities. I ignored him for now and shifted my focus to the white-haired woman.
Whoever she was, she was seriously interested in me. Why? What does she want?
After following her with my senses, I quietly recalled a sense of familiarity with her appearance with absolute clarity. Wasn't she a supermodel a few months ago? How did she manage to become the leader of the Moonlight Gang, and wasn't it operated by an old woman for years until she passed away due to some complications?
Perhaps the two were related. Although, it was weird for her to be controlling the Moonlight gang since she was known for her charming personality and caring nature toward the planet and its people. How could she change so much in the span of a few months? My gut was saying that something was seriously wrong with her.
Upon looking at her nervous system, I noticed a few irregularities. Her bioelectricity was twice its normal amount, and there was a difference in intensities. The first bioelectricity was strong, while the second was weak and pulsating. To me, it looked like there were two operating systems inhabiting one piece of hardware, but only one of them was in full control.
What did it mean? It meant that the person I was tracking wasn't the supermodel but someone else entirely. As for the supermodel, the original inhabitor, she was gone, as her neurons were completely replaced by the foreign bioelectricity running through her body. The only remnants of her existence were the faint bioelectricity that, ironically, was keeping the possession stable.
My stomach churned and knotted into a tight, hard ball.
That's disgusting.
Revolting, but the matter had to be put on pause as I needed to rescue the victims of human trafficking. Saving them would allow for the perfect opportunity to completely wreak havoc.
I made my way into a building. I hid behind a group of boxes on the second floor, and in front of these boxes were a few men. The lighting around my body had long dissipated, and relying on it any longer would make me vulnerable to discovery.
Although lighting crackled in my eyes and fingertips.
There were a total of ten men on the first and second floors; within the basement there were four more. A total of fourteen targets. Taking down the four from the second and then the six on the first would leave the four in the basement.
However, there were a few cameras on the first, second, and basement floors. There were a few blind spots, and I was occupying one. These cameras were stationary, meaning it was impossible to use their movement against them. Luckily, the blind spots also covered the ceiling.
I leapt from behind the boxes and stuck to the ceiling like a magnet. I slowed my breathing and silenced my physical presence. I crawled my way to the camera and taped my finger against its frame. Red sparks overcharged its circuits, shutting it down.
This overlooked the main room of the building. There were a few in the hallways and one near the stairs, but those could wait. If not for my electricity, my trench coat would've hung from my body.
At least the lights were off, the only light source the TV where two guys were sitting. As for the guy in front of the boxes, he was near the water cooler talking on the phone with someone, while the other guy was in the bathroom next to the hallway.
There was a vent near me that I could use to get into the restroom, taking him instantly.
I snuck through the vent, which was comically large for the human body, and crawled on the ceiling. I saw the man whistling in front of a white urinal.
I dropped down, grabbed his head.
"Wha..."
and snapped his neck in two. His body fell, and before his waste could get on me, I leapt back into the vent and made my way to the main area.
I quickly made my way over to the man at the cooler. I zapped his neck, shutting down his motor functions, and silently placed him on the ground. Cracking his neck would've alerted the two on the couch.
I moved toward the two, quickly avoiding the window's reflection situated before them. I lay my back against the couch. I noticed the cord to the TV under the couch; it plugged into the wall behind them and in front of me.
I touched the grey cord; red plasma cracked along the wire, turning off the TV.
"What the hell?" the man said.
He got up from the couch and went to check on the TV, while the other guy remained there looking at his phone.
Using this planned opportunity to my advantage, I took the guy from the couch instantly, had his neck in my arms, and snapped it with a quick motion before he could even start to struggle to escape. The guy checking on the TV quickly moved his head back to the couch and saw no one there.
He moved toward it, and what he saw was the dead body of his buddy.
"Frank? Shit."
He was running toward the stairs while I was positioned on the ceiling. I jumped, placed my hands on his head.
"Shi..."
And before he could even finish, I twisted his head 180 degrees with a crack, and all he saw was my cruel smile before he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Still covered in darkness, I moved over to the man who had been talking on the phone near the cooler earlier. His eyes were filled with fear, unable to move, but witnessing everything I had done.
I picked him up and placed his head between my steady hands. Usually I didn't talk to anyone while I tried to kill them, but today I was feeling a bit generous.
"Your brother Miller lives on Oak Street near Westernlen, right?"
I was referring to a conversation he had earlier. He had told his brother to pick up a package a few blocks away, and I had narrowed the area down to a single street since I could recall the city's geography perfectly.
His eyes widened in fear, but he burned with anger; his muscles tensed as he tried to talk, but his body failed him. He couldn't see my face due to the darkness, but I made an effort to show my grin with red electricity.
"He'll be joining you soon along with the rest of your family."
I squeezed his head with immense strength and brutality, finishing him off within a second. His biomass attempted to fall on my hands and face but was fried by the electricity spontaneously crackling around my body.
I lied. I wasn't going to kill this man's family, as I had no reason to; they could be innocent in all of this. However, in the afterlife that man would be rolling in anger and vulnerability, knowing darn well he couldn't do anything to fix it.
It was time to ramp up the show. I couldn't dilly-dally around like an idiot. I had to be quick as I noticed that the boss of the moonlight was about to head out into the city. I kept tabs on her with my advanced senses since I couldn't afford to lose her.
A Hail Mary approach was the intention all along anyways.
The plan demanded speed and precision. Luckily, Divine Orge Requiem was perfect for this. While the kinks were being sorted out, I required a bit more practice to fully command it.
Red electricity crackled around my body, forming solid constructs around my arms, legs, and face. My arms had red gauntlets with sharp claws at the ends, while my feet were covered in red, knee-high electrical boots. My face had a red electricity mask with four eyes, ogre teeth, and sharp canines. If someone were to glance at my form, they would assume I was the incarnation of Satan.
To be referred to as a demon was fitting but nonetheless irritating.
I sent out an electrical pulse that paralyzed all electrical signals, including all humans within the building. I zapped my way toward the basement, killing everyone on the first and basement floors with lightning precision.
It was annoying to be in this state, as my world was constantly in slow motion, giving me no time to experience the world without time dilation.
I picked up four of the twelve victims and vanished from the scene onto a rooftop a few blocks away from the criminal district. I set down the people I took, with my electrical tendrils spreading from my back. I repeated the process, having a total of twelve on the roof, unconscious.
I set an electrical barrier around the group, distorting light and air to some extent, creating a barrier that protected against physical attacks and visual detection. Though their distance should keep them safe, I had to be careful, as life was filled with uncertainties.
I dashed back to the criminal district. I stood in the middle of the street, and no one batted an eye, as their perception of time had yet to register my presence. I walked around the nearly frozen criminals and tapped each forehead I was near. I sent out a small electrical current that caused their brains to explode instantly.
Everyone I touched remained in place while they were committing their action. A man was on a phone, holding a picture of his daughter. A woman was reading a magazine about the latest fashion trends while she rested against the wall of a prostitution house, unaware that her pimp had his brain annihilated while he had a cigar in his hand.
I stepped calmly into the main building of the district. I was on the third floor, making my way to my last victim. She stood on the balcony with her elbows resting on the white wooden railing. A cigarette hung from her mouth, and a phone was in her hand. Next to her sat a small travel bag.
Usually, when a hero meets the big bad, there's a final confrontation, an exchange of words, a clash of ideals. But with her, I couldn't afford a mistake. If she switched bodies, I'd be done for. Worse, what if she took mine? Still, my instincts told me she couldn't even if she tried.
Even so, she was a risk I couldn't ignore. Usually, the villain is the one who steals the show, forcing the hero to rise and prove themselves in the end. But not this time. It might be anticlimactic, but this was the ending I always wanted: kill the villain quickly, cleanly, and with style.
I charged electricity into my hands and fired. The moment the bolt struck her, it triggered a chain reaction in the air around her. A black sphere formed, pulling everything toward its center as the air began to compress with a mechanical hum and a weird electronical glitch. I flickered away, appearing several hundred meters above the ground.
Below me, everything within a few hundred meters was crushed into a single point. When it was over, only a massive crater remained, an empty and barren stretch of land. The woman, the prostitutes, and everyone I hadn't killed with electricity were gone with that attack. The victims caught in human trafficking nearby survived, their building untouched at the crater's edge.
Truly anticlimactic.